47 Meters Down Is As Good As Its Simple Yet Clever Premise Allows It To Be

      Making a horror flick that revolves its story around the concept of killer sharks is a tough sell to audiences as very few movies with that concept have managed to pull it off successfully or end up being memorable if lucky. In terms of memorable shark films, the most obvious ones that come to mind are Steven Spielberg's Jaws and reasonably decent sequel Jaws 2 with one even being able to make an argument for Deep Blue Sea being more fun than it had any right to be (Haven't seen Shallows yet but heard fairly good things about it). While no one can ever hope to make a shark movie that's as memorable as Spielberg's film, the opportunity is still there to create an entertaining and fun shark flick so long as its aware of the type of film it is and just has fun with its concept. With 47 Meters Down, it knows precisely what kind of film it wants to be and remains grounded with its premise. While it might not have fully lived up to the potential of its premise, it still offers up some nail-biting thrills and solid suspense with its appealing female stars playing out a Gravity style movie concept that's centered underwater with killer sharks.

      The plot for 47 Meters Down centers around two sisters with a thirst for adventure vacationing in Mexico with a plan to swim with sharks. Upon diving underwater in a steel shark cage, they watch sharks swim by at fast speed on the ocean floor while being protected. When their cage breaks away from their boat, they plunge onto the ocean floor with limited oxygen to breathe while finding a way to make it to the surface without being eaten. The best thing that can be said about the plot for this movie is though it looks simple on paper, it leaves room for lots of creativity in terms of building up the films suspense as well as making the audience care about the fate of the main characters. The film plays out much like the film Gravity except whereas that film took place in space, this one is set underwater with the blue ocean being so dark that both the main characters as well as the audience can't see what's coming straight at them. While Gravity was a survival movie that took place in space, 47 Meters Down works best as a survival movie underwater with not just one killer shark but several. What helps this films plot work despite it coming off as being rather silly to audiences is how quick it sets everything up and gets the main characters underwater so the movie goes straight to the action with the sharks terrorizing them. The film survives and thrives off its own rules as a B- movie with little sprinkles of character development information thrown in with the primary focus being the experience for both the main characters as well as the audience.

      In terms of performances, Claire Holt and Mandy Moore do terrific jobs and completely sell the idea to the audience that they are trapped underwater and fighting for their lives as they slowly lose their Oxygen. Whet's more impressive is they're both able to do so given they are underwater for 90 percent of the movie while wearing Oxygen and diving gear. They both deliver such strong performances making them genuinely feel like sisters in the story as well as making the audience second guess their chances of making it to the end of the film alive. Whereas Claire Holt is the stronger, braver, and more daring of the two sisters performance and character wise, it is Mandy Moore who balances the two out with her character carrying more of an emotional core to her with it revealed that she's dealing with a tough break up while expressing concern over their plans to go underwater in a cage with people they hardly know. For the audience, the different characteristics of the sisters proves to be a striking parallel yet creates a sense of balance as the audience can either relate to Holt's characters thirst for adventure or Moore's characters hesitance to do it but gives in when her sister holds her hand essentially. Matthew Modine doesn't have much of a role to play other than help get the girls underwater and speak to them while underwater as they struggle to survive, but his work is appreciated despite there not being much for him to work off. All the side characters have minimal roles with little or nothing to do, making it Holt and Moore's show.

      As far as the directing, writing, and technical aspects go, Johannes Roberts does a solid job directing an underwater Shark movie, that keeps audiences hooked for the most part while holding their attention. He crafts an entertaining thriller that not only has a genuine feeling of dread that flows through it, but also manages to make the absolute best of the setting and story that's set up for it. The strength of Roberts directing comes from his skill with the camera as he goes the Spielberg route in regards to showing just enough to scare the audience with the sharks coming straight at the main characters while leaving the rest of the ocean floor in the black. The most effective moments are the POV shots where one of the main characters leaves the cage to try and find help yet can't see anything straight ahead meaning anything can emerge in front of the audience at any second. Co-written by Roberts and Ernest Riera, the writing duo keeps the plot basic and smart by keeping the audience stuck with the girls down in the darkness at the bottom of the water with their Oxygen levels dropping and them not being able to see whats around them. The twist to the story is the sisters can't swim up to the top because they'll either get decompression sickness or possibly eaten by the sharks on the way up to the surface. One can tell that a great deal of thought went into setting this scenario up because it allows the audience to embrace its reality while questioning what they would do if placed in the same kind of scenario these characters are in. The films pacing is perfect for the type of story it presents, it doesn't take much time to get the main characters into the ocean and never feels like its moving too slow. The movies flow is brisk with just enough information regarding the main characters being delivered to the audience without it feeling forced or unnatural given the film is not a character study, but an experience designed to scare the audience.

      Going into this movie, one has to realize that they aren't going to get the rich character development and elaborate storytelling that a shark film like Jaws received from its masterful filmmaker nor an epic Samuel L. Jackson speech from Deep Blue Sea. What they will get from this film are characters that are sympathetic as well as ones they want to see survive during the films 90 minute ordeal with the main focus being the thrill ride that the audience endures with these characters. The performances between Holt and Moore are completely convincing and believable as the audience can totally buy into their panicking and freaking out. The films end twist however may either shock or infuriate audiences as its a slick yet confusing one, that will make the audience step back for a second while questioning everything that's happened up until that point underwater. Despite the questionable plot twist, the overall experience as a whole is reasonably entertaining and engaging from start to finish. Like Gravity, this movie is fast-paced, dialogue driven, and directed with solid craftsmanship creating some stylish thrills and suspense. Its not a great movie by any means as it doesn't have a strong enough script to warrant such a title as the plot is rather simple, but it delivers on the promise of entertaining its audience which it does very well. One hopes that 47 Meters Down Uncaged can build upon the concept established with this film while presenting some newer tricks up its sleeve.

Final Verdict: Its no Jaws but its definitely worth a watch if you want to see something creepy.